A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to largely transparent decorative fittings having a narrow color layer formed therein, and to methods for producing such fittings. It appears to be especially well suited for use in the plumbing field (e.g. to provide valve control handles).
B. Description of the Art
It is known in the art to make valve handles from acrylic so that they are largely transparent. For heightened decorative effect, there have also been attempts to insert color walls inside the acrylic so as to provide a slight tint to the handle when the handle is viewed from a direction perpendicular to the color wall. Prior art color walls were provided in valve handles by layering a thin sheet of colored plastic over a preformed acrylic sheet, and then placing a second acrylic sheet over the top side of the color wall. This "sandwich" technique was also utilized to fabricate other decorative objects such as paperweights. However, because of the thickness of coventional plastic sheets, one could readily see that a plastic color sheet had been inserted into the acrylic, and much of the decorative value was therefore lost. Also, once the thinness of the conventional color wall sheets got below 0.065", it became very difficult to handle the preformed plastic without having them break up as they were being transferred over the panels.
Thus, the applicant has not found anywhere in the prior art an acrylic decorative fitting in which a color layer having a thickness below 0.040" has been inserted. As will become clear from the description which follows, such extreme narrowness is highly desirable because it can provide the illusion of the color wall being almost invisible when the layer is looked at in one direction, without showing a clear layering effect when the handle is viewed from the side. Thus, similar to the curiosity and wonderment aroused by the illusion of placing ships in a narrow neck bottle, the present invention makes the consumer wonder how the wall of color has been inserted.